Monday

CHICAGO — The experience was so painful that Jamari Traylor repressed it.

When asked about last year’s game in the Champions Classic (which happened to be a 72-40 blowout loss to Kentucky), the Kansas senior forward shrugged.

"Last year, we played against Duke, and we won," Traylor said.

Actually, that was two years ago, when Andrew Wiggins helped lead KU to a 94-83 victory over the Blue Devils.

Traylor quickly realized his mistake.

"Oh yeah," he said with a smile. "As you can see, that isn’t even in my head any more."

Perhaps that’s for the best.

KU has oftentimes struggled in the Champions Classic, going 1-3 in four years under coach Bill Self.

The fourth-ranked Jayhawks have a chance to improve that mark — and erase some bad memories from a year ago — when they take on the 13th-ranked Michigan State Spartans at 9 p.m. Tuesday at United Center.

"We have no plans of having anything like that happen again," junior forward Landen Lucas said of last year’s blowout loss. "That was not something that is OK with us. For the people that were here last year, that is not acceptable, no matter how early in the season it is."

The beatdown was so bad that Self walked into the postgame press conference and looked down at a bottle of water before saying, "I was hoping that was vodka."

"Last year was just like we were starting over right afterwards," Lucas said. "I don’t want to have to do that. We’ll be ready for (Tuesday’s) game, for sure."

The matchup is a familiar one. KU and Michigan State have played in two of the last three seasons, which included a 61-56 KU victory in the finals of the Orlando Classic last year.

The Jayhawks won despite making just 43 percent of their 2s and 21 percent of their 3s. Michigan State, meanwhile, made 31 percent of its 2s, with coach Tom Izzo joking this week that his team "set a North American record for the number of layups missed."

"I remember we shook hands after the game," Self said. "He said, ‘Well, you won, but you're probably just as mad as I am.’ That was basically his reply. If they'd have won, I would said, ‘Good win, but you'll like watching that tape, too.’"

Self still enjoys playing Izzo’s teams, as MSU’s program typically has a reputation of being tough like KU’s. One of the coach’s fondest memories of the Spartans was playing them as Tulsa’s coach in 1998. When Self walked by the Spartans’ locker room, he saw guard Mateen Cleaves going after teammates because they failed to guard a ball screen correctly before the end of the half.

This in a game where MSU was leading by double figures at the break.

"I thought, ‘Hey, these guys are pretty good.’ It meant something to them not just to win, but it meant something to them to do it right," Self said. "That's all a reflection of coach Izzo."

Barring a late change, KU will play without freshman forward Cheick Diallo, who has not been declared eligible by the NCAA following an investigation into his previous coursework.

Izzo was honest Monday when asked if he’d like for Diallo to be cleared before Tuesday.

"Hell no, I don't want to see him," Izzo said with a laugh. "I mean, do you want me to lie?"

Izzo continued to talk lightheartedly about his team potentially avoiding Diallo.

"They've got five bigs, so if they've got six, maybe I should hope for (him to be cleared). Maybe it'll screw them up," Izzo said. "But I've seen him enough in AAU events. He's a good player, but trust me, they've got enough good players in there without him.

"For Bill's sake, I hope he's eligible. For my sake, he can be eligible the next game."

KU, which enters as a five-point favorite, will be the second game in Tuesday’s event, following the matchup of No. 2 Kentucky against No. 5 Duke at 6:30 p.m.

MICHIGAN STATE VS. KU

Tipoff: 9 p.m. Tuesday, United Center, Chicago

Line: KU by 5.

TV/Radio: ESPN/KWIC-FM (99.3)

Next: vs. Chaminade, 8 p.m. Monday, Maui Invitational

PROJECTED STARTERS

Kansas (1-0)

PPlayerHt.Cl.Pts.Reb.

FPerry Ellis6-8Sr.16.02.0

FJamari Traylor6-8Sr.8.07.0

FWayne Selden6-5Jr.15.04.0*

GFrank Mason5-11Jr.11.09.0*

GDevonte’ Graham6-2So.13.08.0*

* — Assists

Michigan State (1-0)

PPlayerHt.Cl.Pts.Reb.

GLourawls Nairn5-10So.7.04.0*

GBryn Forbes6-3Sr.12.02.0

GDenzel Valentine6-5Sr.13.09.0*

FJavon Bess6-5So.9.06.0

FMatt Costello6-9Sr.15.07.0

* — Assists

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